Friday, January 31, 2014

"Are our politicians ready to consider that it is our
culture that is failing and that that failure is now showing up in our
schools?" Robert John Meehan

"As teachers we must adjust to the
ever changing politically driven educational mandates but still hold to the unchanging principles that
every child can and will succeed." Robert John Meehan"To
narrow down our curriculum and focus to just what is “on the test” can
take away the inquiry, passion, and joy of learning." Robert John Meehan

"Nothing
that the political ed reformist mandate can match the results of a
dedicated teacher in a SUPPORTIVE school environment." Robert John
Meehan

"Most teachers can come to a general consensus that our
plates are full. Working smarter, longer and harder isn't always
enough." Robert John Meehan

"Why else would a teacher take a
crappy salary, really long hours and enduring stress to teach children
unless they really loved to do it?" Robert John Meehan

"Did you
have a favorite teacher because he or she was able to prepare you for a
multiple choice test or because he/she inspired you?" Robert John Meehan

Several years ago I attended a meeting at a church that was set up
to show the congregation the value of sending their children to their
private church run school. After 30 minutes of bashing the public
schools, the headmaster put up an overhead display of the school's
standardized test scores. It showed the test scores for each grade level
starting from the first grade. He so proudly pointed out that the test
scores of the school's first graders were average when compared to the
public schools. In each successive year following, the test scores
continued their upward climb above and beyond the public school scores
as the children progressed through the church school. The congregation
stood in unison with a resounding chorus of "Amen". The headmaster then
went on to pridefully announce that every senior in their high school
graduating class would be attending college after graduation. He boasted
"What public school can boast of such a marvelous achievement?". The
congregation left that meeting singing the praises of how wonderful
their school must be to have produced such an outstanding crop of
graduating seniors! The public schools be damned. Alas, The King was naked! No one
noticed the numbers or perhaps they just weren't intelligent enough to
see past all the positive emphasis put on the end results.What the
congregation failed to notice was that their typical first grade
enrollment was between 55 and 60 students. Their senior graduating class
was composed of 6 students! Yes, 6 students! One could only reason that
during the coarse of the previous 12 years, 54 students were weeded out
and sent packing back to the public schools! Any public school could
also boast that all of their seniors were going on to study in college
under those same circumstances!
Private and charter schools do get positive results. Be mindful that
their success is overwhelmingly attributed to what they can exclude.
Too often it comes down to who they exclude. I have often
wondered what would happen if each public school teacher were permitted
to pick any two students out of their own classroom and send them to a
local private/charter school. These teachers could easily bring the
private/charter
schools to their knees by simply deciding on sending their two most
challenging students. The private/charter schools couldn't survive if
mandated to
accept and retain this influx of challenging children. In all honesty,
the majority of the teachers that I have known over the past 40 years
would choose their two most deserving children if they had the
opportunity. I choose to believe that teaching the least desired is the
most noble choice of all. All the teacher bashing and blaming the public
schools for all our social problems is pointless. Do I support school
choice? Absolutely! Do I support the establishment of schools that are
free of government mandates and restrictions? YES! Children must come
first. I just expect more honesty in the debate as to why private/charter is
better. Authentic educational reform movements seek to win converts. Fraudulent educational
reform movements seek to punish or denigrate those that question their integrity.

A few notes from our editor:

Robert
John Meehan's passion for the children and teachers in today's schools
has made him one of the nation's most popular educator/poets. His
understanding and compassion for the teaching profession has
established Robert John Meehan as one of the nation's leading poetic
voices for the American teacher.

Robert John Meehan's depth of experience as an inner-city teacher for a
period covering four decades is deeply embodied in his writing. His
ability to share the joy, sorrows and at times the horror of teaching in
our inner-city schools is brought to the forefront of each of his
selections. His position of respect by his peers in the teaching
profession is unmatched by any of today's educational expositors.

Robert John Meehan's
insight into the heart and soul of both teacher and student tugs at our
emotions like no other writer can. Once you have joined his journey
into today's classrooms you will see why Robert John Meehan has
become one of the most quoted educators.